George Russell re-entered the world championship conversation by holding off Max Verstappen to win Saturday’s nail-biting Azerbaijan Grand Prix by just one tenth of a second – as title rival Kimi Antonelli finished fifth.
Russell all but raised the white flag after the last round in Madrid where Antonelli claimed his eighth victory of the year to extend his title advantage to 81 points.
But the British driver has been in inspired form on the streets of Baku, charging to pole position before navigating his way through two safety car periods, and Verstappen’s late advances, to take his third win of the campaign and his first since the Austrian Grand Prix, 90 days ago.
Russell trims Antonelli’s title lead to 66 points with 208 still to play for across the scheduled remaining eight rounds.
It was damage limitation for Antonelli after his qualifying crash left him 16th on the grid. Antonelli was in the points by the 16th lap and a safety car, deployed on the 31st lap after Alex Albon crashed out, fortuitously propelled him onto the back of the leading drivers.
Antonelli briefly dropped behind Lando Norris to ninth at the first restart, but moved up two places when Franco Colapinto wiped out both Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and Norris with a banzai move.
Antonelli made light work of Lewis Hamilton to take fifth with nine laps left. Isack Hadjar completed a double Red Bull podium as he finished third, a place ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Hamilton settling for sixth.
Russell began the year as the championship favourite but he has struggled to get on top of a Mercedes which has played more to Antonelli’s style behind the wheel.
However, the Englishman’s dominant performance at this street venue on the Caspian Sea will provide him with renewed belief that all is not lost in his pursuit of a maiden world crown.
Russell mastered the initial start, two safety car getaways, and Verstappen ominously swamping his mirrors for the concluding 13 laps.
A yellow flag at the last meaningful corner following Valtteri Bottas’ crash, allowed Verstappen to latch onto the back of Russell’s Silver Arrows.
Russell dragged Verstappen all the way to the line and finished only 0.1 sec clear in one of the closest finishes in recent Formula One memory.
Top-10 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix
1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
8. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
9. Ollie Bearman (Haas)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Antonelli might have delivered a stunning comeback drive from 19th to win in Monza earlier this month but here his initial progress was slow.
It took the Italian 16 laps to dislodge Ollie Bearman from 10th position, and that left him half-a-minute behind Russell.
On the 23rd lap of 51, Antonelli swooped past Colapinto before his afternoon was aided by two safety cars. The first arrived when Albon ended up in the wall at turn 5. Both Gasly and Norris were taken out of the fixture by a wild Colapinto at the restart.
“Oh my, god,” said Gasly after Colapinto’s friendly fire. “I can’t believe it. So many points gone.”
A second safety car was required to deal with the carnage. Antonelli swatted Hamilton to one side for fifth, but with Leclerc 3.5 sec up the road, he failed to make any further progress, marking only the third time this season he has failed to finish in the top three.
Antonelli remains in control of the championship but ahead of next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Russell has at least provided him with food for thought.
“It is amazing to be back on the top step of the podium,” said Russell. “I want to thank my team for continuing to believe in me through the tough moments.
“The first half of the race was plain sailing, and then after the safety car I had Max behind me. Then there was a yellow flag, I lifted off the power and when I got back on the throttle I had no turbo, Max nearly got me at the line. And that would have been a shame!
“After the summer break I feel like I have gone from strength-to-strength and I feel more like myself, and that’s a good thing.”
Asked to assess his plan of attack for the rest of the season, Russell said: “Win every race, that’s the game plan. My team-mate has had an incredible season and now we’ve got to crunch time. I’ve got to focus on myself.”
